


Wildflower, Fingertips on Me

by FayeHunter



Series: Tangled Muke AU [2]
Category: 5 Seconds of Summer (Band)
Genre: It's more tangled au!, M/M, petunia is a lizard and michael is mad he likes luke, this time it's right after the they leave the tower
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-12
Updated: 2020-08-12
Packaged: 2021-03-06 03:35:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,983
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25866775
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FayeHunter/pseuds/FayeHunter
Summary: Michael's only been with Luke for a few days, but he wishes he'd stop being so annoying and cute.It's more Tangled AU.
Relationships: Michael Clifford/Luke Hemmings
Series: Tangled Muke AU [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1876993
Comments: 2
Kudos: 21





	Wildflower, Fingertips on Me

**Author's Note:**

  * For [expectopatronuz](https://archiveofourown.org/users/expectopatronuz/gifts).



> This is for [Maggie](https://calumsclifford.tumblr.com/). She prompted me again for Tangled AU, this time with "pipe the fuck down asshole." I don't know if this is what she had in mind but.  
> Also shout-out to [Liz](https://pushkinalexander.tumblr.com/) for reading this over for me!

“Michael,” Luke says, tugging on Michael’s sleeve again. “What’s that?”

Michael steadfastly ignores Luke. Even since they left the tower, Luke’s been tugging on Michael’s sleeve with question after question about everything they’ve seen. Michael has looped from finding it cute and endearing to annoying. Luke can’t possibly be dumb enough to not what most things are. He had books in his tower, he could read, and he had a window. Michael has seen the drawings and paintings Luke made. He  _ has _ to know what most things are.

“Michael,” Luke whines, tugging harder. Michael stares straight ahead, pretending he can’t hear Luke. He’s not letting Luke win this one. 

A wet tongue licks his cheek. Michael shrieks and jumps, trying to shove Petunia off of his shoulder. She misses his hand, jumping neatly onto Luke’s shoulder again as he giggles. How can a lizard look so smug? Michael glares at Petunia. She burrows back into Luke’s hair.

“Michael, what are those?” Luke points at some flowers by a nearby river. Michael breathes heavily out of his nose. Michael doesn’t know every single flower there is and he’s not sure why Luke keeps asking him as though he does.

“I don’t know. Pink ones?”

Luke darts over to them, leaning down to get close to them.

“Hang on, you don’t know if they’re safe or not!”

Luke rolls his eyes. Michael can’t believe the amount of attitude Luke has for someone who’s lived in a tower their whole life with only a lizard to keep him company. If it wasn’t for the crown that he knows Luke has, Michael would have left Luke by now and let him walk himself and his long hair to the lanterns. As it is, Michael has almost tripped over Luke’s hair enough times now that he’s getting sick of it. Maybe if Luke goes to sleep tonight he can just cut it off and be done with it. 

Luke has already snapped a few of the flowers off their stems, humming lightly as he tries to weave the flowers together into something like a crown. He continues to hum as he leans over and drops the crown onto Michael’s head. Michael frowns, moving to bat the flowers away. He’s got a mysterious rugged persona to maintain and that does not include the flowers Luke is determined to stick in his hair.

Luke shrieks loudly, jumping onto Michael’s back. Michael grunts under the motion, sagging a little under Luke’s weight. For such a delicate looking guy, he’s heavy when he wants to be. 

“Michael it’s going to hurt us!” 

“What? What is going to hurt us?”

“That!” Luke yells, pointing at something on the ground with the frying pan he’s been using as a weapon. Michael looks down. A small brown rabbit is sitting up on its hind legs, sniffing at the air. Michael thinks he feels his eye twitch.

“Luke, it’s a rabbit. It’s not going to hurt us.”

“But what if it has razor sharp teeth? What if it’s looking for a meal?”

“Princess, it’s a rabbit. They eat grass and other shit. Look how little it is! It couldn’t even bite your ankles if it wanted to. It’s harmless.”

Luke peaks around Michael’s shoulder. The rabbit twitches its nose at them. Luke makes a tiny squeak sound, lowering the pan.

“Do you think it’ll let me touch it?”

“You just said it might have razor sharp teeth and now you want to pet it?”

“It’s cute! Besides, you said it was little.”

Michael huffs. “Well then be careful, it probably smells fear,” Michael rolls his eyes, making to drop Luke to the ground. 

Luke approaches the rabbit cautiously, sticking his hand out in front of him. The rabbit sniffs him and leans his head forward, allowing Luke to pet it. Luke giggles. Michael finds it very cute and then promptly decides that he will not find it cute. Luke is annoying and whiny and it doesn’t matter that he’s glowing in this light, smiling widely as he pets the rabbit, dimple in his cheek. Just because Luke is cute and Michael has  _ thought _ about kissing him doesn’t make him any less of a pain in Michael’s  _ ass. _

“Michael, look,” Luke giggles. He’s holding the rabbit now, cuddling it to his cheek. The rabbit doesn’t seem to mind being cuddled either, sniffing at Luke’s cheek. Petunia is looking at it disdainfully, as if it’s going to take her place as Luke’s favorite creature. It’s painfully cute and it makes Michael’s heart  _ ache _ thinking about how this is the first time Luke has ever left his tower ( _ prison _ ) and that this is the first time he’s actually experienced the world. He looks happy and content, cooing at the rabbit and petting its head. 

“Luke, we can’t keep him.”

Luke pouts, “Why not?”

“It’s a wild creature. You can’t keep a wild creature locked up if it doesn’t want to be. He’ll be happier roaming free.”

Luke frowns, looking down at the rabbit sadly. His glow seems to dim slightly. Michael realizes what he’s just said. It’s a little too painfully close to Luke’s situation to feel right mentioning out loud. 

“Hey, it’ll be fine. He’s probably got a whole rabbit family to get back to and rabbit adventures to go on. Besides, we already have an animal mascot and your hair to deal with, we don’t need another bother,” Michael says, patting Luke awkwardly on the shoulder. Luke looks up at Michael, blues eyes wide and head cocked to the side. Luke’s doing that thing where it’s like he’s staring into Michael’s soul and Michael does not like that.

“Come on, we gotta go. We still have to find somewhere to eat or stay or whatever before it gets dark. Can’t leave you at the mercy of wild animals out here, Princess.”

Luke lets the rabbit go, after giving it one last pet on the head. It hops off into the bushes and Luke watches it go a little sadly before turning to Michael, nose scrunched up.

“Why do you do that?”

“Do what?”

“Call me Princess.”

“It’s a nickname. People use them as terms of endearment, or something like that,” Michael says. He’s never had anyone to call a nickname before, but he’s seen people use them all the time. Especially at the orphanage, where it seemed like everyone else was friends with each other except for him.

“I don’t like it.”

“What, having a nickname?”

“No. Princess. When you say it it sounds mean. I don’t like it when you sound mean.”

Michael rolls his eyes. God, Luke may be pretty but he’s really annoying when he wants to be. Michael knows it’s because Luke hasn’t had any human contact outside of his mother, but still. He’s picky as fuck and very opinionated about things. Since they started, Luke’s made it known that he doesn’t like shoes and refuses to wear them because he likes the feeling of the grass on his bare feet. He hasn’t stopped smiling at everything they’ve encountered, even when it’s something as silly as a “neat looking rock.” He hasn’t been deterred by Michael’s mood at all. It shouldn’t be so endearing. 

Michael glances at Luke. He’s focused on the ground, worrying his lip between his teeth like he’s nervous about something. Oh. He’s worried that Micheal is upset at him because he said something about the nickname. Which makes sense from what little he knows about his mother.

“I mean, I don’t have to call you a nickname if you don’t want me to. I can just call you Luke. It is your name and I can respect that.”

“I don’t mind the nickname, but I don’t like that one,” Luke says slowly, as if he’s thinking about how to phrase it. He scrunches his nose up, glancing at Michael. 

Michael tries to give him a reassuring smile. “Well, I’ll have to think of something else, won’t I Lu.”

Luke beams. He links arms with Michael, tugging him along slightly. He starts babbling about everything that he wants to do once they get to the lanterns and town. The sunlight streaming through the trees hits Luke, lighting him up and making him glow. He looks happy and content, Petunia peeking out from his hair, the only burst of contrasting color against the purple of his shirt. It’s the first time Michael has seen him at peace since they left the tower. Michael knows Luke means to go back to his tower after all of this is over, but it doesn’t sit right with him to send him back after showing him the world down here. Everything about the way Luke holds himself, from the constant need to touch Michael and the constant stream of conversation, makes him wonder if Luke is worried this will all stop existing if he slows down for a moment. 

Maybe he can give Luke something to remember this by. Something solid and tangible to remind him that this is real, that everything they’re doing is his gift to Luke. He spots a little clump of purple flowers off the side of the trail and he stops abruptly, pulling Luke to a stop with him. Luke cocks his head to the side as Michael pulls away, bending down to tug a few of the flowers free from the ground. He knows he can’t make a crown like Luke did earlier, but he can at least give these to him.

He tries not to look Luke in the eyes as he tucks a few of the flowers behind his ears. The purple stands out brightly against the blonde of his hair. Up close, Luke’s eyes are a bright, clear blue and full of wonder and excitement.

“There you go. A little color to brighten you up, Sunshine,” Michael says, face going warm and pink as soon as he realizes what he’s said. The nickname had slipped out, unplanned for. It fits Luke though, as he beams wildly at Michael, sunny and bright. Michael has to glance away, embarrassed slightly. 

“Sunshine? Oh, that’s adorable, I love it so much. This is the best birthday present ever, even better than the time Mother gave me a guitar and that lesson book. And you gave me flowers? I’ve never had anyone give me flowers before unless you count the one time Petunia snuck out of the tower and brought me a few that we saw growing but those weren’t as colorful as these. Does this mean we’re friends now? Friends give each other gifts right? Here, I want to give you this!” Luke babbles excitedly, pulling off the sunburst ring he’s wearing, the only piece of jewelry he has, and grabbing Michael’s hand, pushing the ring onto his middle finger. Michael feels his face heat up even more. Luke’s glances up at Michael, grinning.

“I’ve never had friends before. Unless you count Petunia, but a lizard can’t talk to you when you have a question about what color to use in your painting. And Mother doesn’t count because I hardly see her and she’s my mother. But I’m glad you’re my friend, Michael. You’re a great friend taking me to see the lanterns and doing all this,” Luke glances at Michael, frowning slightly, “Michael, are you okay? Your face is really red, do you need to sit down?”

“Oh, pipe the fuck down, asshole,” Michael mumbles, batting Luke’s hands away as he starts to touch his face. Luke looks somewhere between scandalized and amused at Michael. Michael gives him a small smile to let him know he’s joking. Luke beams widely, pulling one of the flowers behind his ear and sticking it into Michael’s hair. He grabs his hand and interlocks their fingers as they continue on their walk. It’s nice, Michael decides. Getting to have a friend like Luke.

**Author's Note:**

> Come find me on [tumblr!](https://pixiegrl.tumblr.com/) Talk to me about Stardust, 5sos, Luke Hemmings, or you can sidetrack me by giving me more fic ideas


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